Father has concerns about Joba's move to pen

Harlan Chamberlain worries about the effect on his 21-year-old son's arm

Jim Baumbach

5:30 PM EDT, August 1, 2007

With top Yankee pitching prospect Joba Chamberlain in the process of converting to be a reliever so he can join the major-league bullpen, you would expect nothing but excitement at the Chamberlain house in Lincoln, Neb.

And make no mistake Harlan Chamberlain, Joba's father, is happy for his son. But he was rather quick to admit in a telephone interview earlier this afternoon that he has some health reservations about his 21-year-old son pitching out of the bullpen at this stage of his blossoming career.

"Yeah, it's exciting, but, I guess, my concerns at this time are more for the safety of his arm and what this does to his arm," Harlan said. "So I kind of feel like the jury's out for me right now. His personal welfare from a parent's perspective overshadows the baseball perspective."

Chamberlain has been gifted with an incredible arm; his fastball sometimes enters triple digits. He is in only his fourth season as a pitcher and just his first full season pitching in a regular five-man rotation. Now, after starting the year in Class A, he's on the doorstep of becoming a vital member of the beleaguered Yankees bullpen.

Jim Baumbach Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

Speaking honestly, Harlan can't help but wonder if this is a good move for his son, from a health standpoint. When Joba called him with the news last weekend, Harlan's mind instantly ran circles about what his means for his son's arm.

"Immediately, I thought down the road," he said. "I kind of looked at long-term gratification and success, instead of immediate return, immediate success, and all those thoughts went through my mind they're going to take you out of your zone that you're in and put you in something that basically is real new to you. It's a whole different set of circumstances as to the recovery of your body, arm, what have you. I just finally came to the conclusion that his body can acclimate itself to the five-day rotation versus the seven-day that he had in college."

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Torre have vowed that if they do bring Chamberlain up as a reliever, they will take special care of him. And that makes sense, as he's a major future asset for them. He's right up there with Phil Hughes atop their organization's pitching prospect depth chart

And Harlan also made his son promise to him that he would speak up the very second he feels any twinge of discomfort. "I stressed to him that he needs to be vocal about it from the very beginning and not to let it fester," Harlan said, "and he assured me he will do that."

Joba is a combined 9-2 with a 2.53 ERA for Class-A Tampa, Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. In his first relief outing Monday night, he struck out the side. As impressive as that was, Harlan was correct to point out it was on regular rest. "It was just a short start," he said. "Each outing from here will be a barometer."

Joba's second relief outing is scheduled for tonight for Double-A Trenton in Binghamton. After that who knows? perhaps he heads to the major leagues.

A huge Yankee fan, Harlan can't wait to see his first game in the Bronx. He was still pumped today about the surprise of a gift he received in the mail the other day a baseball signed by Reggie Jackson with a personalized inscription that said, "Welcome to the family."

Harlan was incredibly touched by the gesture "I feel like a true Yankee," he said though his reservations about his son makes it quite clear his family still ranks above the Yankee family. "He's assured me that he can do it," Harlan said of his son. "He takes good care of himself now. He's going to have to take even better care of himself, if that's possible."